The goal of this research is the development of spectroscopic methods for the investigation of molecular conformation in solution. Attempts are being made to correlate the chiroptical properties of molecules with their conformation in solution. The general procedure involves the calculation of the optical properties of a molecule as a function of conformation, and the comparison of these theoretical results with experimental spectroscopic data. The principal spectroscopic technique which is being used is circular dichroism. So as to test the applicability of the theoretical formalism, and to refine various theoretical spectral parameters, experiments and calculations are first carried out with simple, sterically hindered model compounds that contain chromophoric groups of interest. After the theoretical and experimental techniques have been proved capable of handling various chromophores, calculations are attempted for much more complex molecules that contain these chromophores in various combinations. Attempts are currently underway to probe the environment and conformation of aromatic amino acid side chains of several protein molecules.